If you love the barbacoa at Chipotle, this one’s for you. A Chipotle grill worker says some things are fresher than others and has viewers debating in the comments section about what the truth is.
In a viral TikTok, Enrique (@yourpapienrique) takes viewers behind the scenes at Chipotle. The video’s text overlay says, “Exposing Chipotle.” Enrique then shows chicken cooking on the grill.
“The chicken is fresh but…” reads the next text overlay, “the barbacoa is frozen in a bag.”
The video has over 8 million views and more than 3,700 comments.
Commenters have mixed responses about the bagged meat
“Fresh barbacoa would take forever to make,” one viewer mentions.
“THE CARNITAS COMES IN A BAG TOO. Nothing at Chipotle is frozen though, it arrives on a refrigerated truck and goes directly into the cooler. Chipotles don’t even have freezers in the store,” a second says.
“Barbacoa is so good there tho,” a third opines.
“How dare they!!! NO!!!!!!” another laments.
@yourpapienrique Rip #fyp #chipotle #artist #producer #music #viral #xybca #apple #spotify #2024 ♬ let’s go for a ride (Sped up) – ENR!QUE
For the most part, viewers in the comments section are not surprised. Making barbacoa is a complex process. It requires burning wood down for several hours and then cooking the meat for 8-10 hours, according to the food blog Texas Monthly.
Chipotle’s website states that, to seal in moisture, part of its barbacoa process is cooking the beef sous vide—a method that involves vacuum-sealing food in a bag and cooking it in a low-temperature water bath for an extended time. The website also states that after this process, the meat is marinated and grilled. However, some of Enrique’s commenters who claim to work at Chipotle say that at their stores, they only cook the meat sous vide and do not grill it.
In the Our Values section of its website, Chipotle also boasts that it doesn’t use “freezers, can openers, or shortcuts.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Enrique for comment via TikTok direct message and to Chipotle via email.
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